Conventional imaging devices such as printers, plotters, copiers, facsimile machines and the like, typically utilize various types of print media to print images. Such print media types include paper based media (e.g., glossy paper, semi-glossy paper, matte paper, etc.) as well as non-paper based media (e.g., vellum, film, etc.).
To optimize print quality, an imaging device generally requires a number of parameters such as print modes, color maps, and/or the like, to be configured. This is because such parameters typically vary with the type of media being utilized. For example, an ink-based imaging device such as an ink jet printer that prints to an overhead transparency (OHT) designed for a laser printer may result in a print that not only may need to re-imaged, but that also may result in gumming-up the internal assembly of the imaging device. This is because ink-based imaging devices use ink and laser-based OHTs do not generally have any ink retention coating. Accordingly, an ink-imaging device may adjust parameters such as printing speed, ink drying time, the amount of ink used, and/or the like, to suit the particular print media being used.
In yet another example, a laser-based imaging device such as a laser printer that prints on an ink-based OHT may melt the ink-based OHT because ink-based OHTs are not manufactured to withstand the amount of heat typically generated by a laser printer's image fusing process. As a result, the imaging job may not only need to be re-imaged, but the job may also result in the need to replace printer parts if the incompatible print media melted onto internal parts of the laser printer. Accordingly, a laser-imaging device may adjust parameters such as the speed of printing, ink-fusing temperature, biasing voltage, and/or the like, to suit the particular print media being used.
Some imaging devices need to be manually configured to properly operate based on the print media type that is going to be used. Thus, print media type information and instructions are typically written on a media box. However, many users do not read the box or the instructions that accompany the media. Once the media is removed from the box for installation into the imaging device, the box is generally thrown away along with the media type indication on the box. Thus, if the print media is removed from one printer and re-installed into a different printer, the user is often required to either remember or guess the print media's corresponding media type to properly configure the different printer.
Accordingly, a number of techniques have been developed for an imaging device to identify the particular type of print media that is loaded into an imaging device. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,162 to Huston et al., assigned to the assignee hereof, and incorporated herein by reference, describes marking each sheet of print media with eight separate indicia by imprinting the markings either on the face of each media sheet or on the side of each media sheet. E.g., two (2) barcodes are printed on each margin's face or one each edge of a sheet of media, which has four (4) margins/edges—top, right, bottom and left. These markings include a print media type indication. Sensors on the imaging device sense these markings to determine the print media type.
Another conventional technique used by an imaging device to identify print media type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,047,110 to Smith, assigned to the assignee hereof, and incorporated herein by reference. Smith describes marking a leading edge of a roll of print media with indicia such as a bar code to indicate media type and the remaining length of media left on the roll. An imaging device reads the marked indicia to obtain the information and then cuts the leading edge of the media off before printing to it. Once a print job is complete, the imaging device readies the media for a next print job by reprinting the information onto the leading edge of the roll.
Once the imaging device has detected the media type, the imaging device attempts to map the detected media type to a set of predetermined media parameters that are hardcoded into the firmware of the imaging device. If the imaging device identifies any media parameters that correspond to the detected media type, the imaging device uses these parameters to configure its operations when printing to the print media.
Unfortunately, these conventional techniques to configure an imaging device do not address how an imaging device will respond to detecting a print media type that cannot be mapped to a predetermined static set of operating parameters that an imaging device may need to properly configure itself to print on the media type. Instead, such techniques typically assume that any required operating parameters are provided by a combination of indicia marked on the print media (e.g., a barcode that identifies a predetermined code for a media type), and predetermined operating parameters hardcoded into the imaging device's firmware that correspond to every type of print media that the device was expected to print on. Because these parameters are hardcoded into firmware, they are unchangeable and static. Thus, if the media type is unknown and/or for some other reason cannot be mapped to such hardwired parameters, the imaging device cannot typically configure itself to appropriately print to the print media.
Accordingly, the various implementations of the following described subject matter address these and other problems of conventional techniques to provide print media parameters to printing devices.